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October 29 - Old & New Testament
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Jump to: Jeremiah 23,24 • Hebrews 4

Jeremiah 23,24

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The Righteous Branch

¹ "Woe to the shepherds^(a) who are destroying and scattering^(b) the sheep of my pasture!"^(c) declares the Lord . ² Therefore this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says to the shepherds^(d) who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock^(e) and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil^(f) you have done," declares the Lord . ³ "I myself will gather the remnant^(g) of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture,^(h) where they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴ I will place shepherds⁽ⁱ⁾ over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid^(j) or terrified, nor will any be missing,^(k)" declares the Lord .

⁵ "The days are coming," declares the Lord ,
     "when I will raise up for David^[a] a righteous Branch,^(l)
a King^(m) who will reign⁽ⁿ⁾ wisely
     and do what is just and right^(o) in the land.
⁶ In his days Judah will be saved
     and Israel will live in safety.^(p)
This is the name^(q) by which he will be called:
     The Lord Our Righteous Savior.^(r)

⁷ "So then, the days are coming,"^(s) declares the Lord , "when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,'^(t) ⁸ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land."^(u)

Lying Prophets

⁹ Concerning the prophets:

My heart^(v) is broken within me;
     all my bones tremble.^(w)
I am like a drunken man,
     like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
     and his holy words.^(x)
¹⁰ The land is full of adulterers;^(y)
     because of the curse^[b]^(z) the land lies parched
     and the pastures^(aa) in the wilderness are withered.^(ab)
The prophets follow an evil course
     and use their power unjustly.

¹¹ "Both prophet and priest are godless;^(ac)
     even in my temple^(ad) I find their wickedness,"
declares the Lord .
¹² "Therefore their path will become slippery;^(ae)
     they will be banished to darkness
     and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
     in the year they are punished,^(af)"
declares the Lord .

¹³ "Among the prophets of Samaria
     I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal^(ag)
     and led my people Israel astray.^(ah)
¹⁴ And among the prophets of Jerusalem
     I have seen something horrible:^(ai)
     They commit adultery and live a lie.^(aj)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,^(ak)
     so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.^(al)
They are all like Sodom^(am) to me;
     the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."^(an)

¹⁵ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

"I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,^(ao)
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness^(ap) has spread throughout the land."

¹⁶ This is what the Lord Almighty says:

"Do not listen^(aq) to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
     they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions^(ar) from their own minds,
     not from the mouth^(as) of the Lord .
¹⁷ They keep saying^(at) to those who despise me,
     ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.'^(au)
And to all who follow the stubbornness^(av) of their hearts
     they say, ‘No harm^(aw) will come to you.'
¹⁸ But which of them has stood in the council^(ax) of the Lord
     to see or to hear his word?
     Who has listened and heard his word?
¹⁹ See, the storm^(ay) of the Lord
     will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind^(az) swirling down
     on the heads of the wicked.
²⁰ The anger^(ba) of the Lord will not turn back^(bb)
     until he fully accomplishes
     the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
     you will understand it clearly.
²¹ I did not send^(bc) these prophets,
     yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
     yet they have prophesied.
²² But if they had stood in my council,^(bd)
     they would have proclaimed^(be) my words to my people
and would have turned^(bf) them from their evil ways
     and from their evil deeds.^(bg)

²³ "Am I only a God nearby,^(bh)"
declares the Lord ,
     "and not a God far away?
²⁴ Who can hide^(bi) in secret places
     so that I cannot see them?"
declares the Lord .
     "Do not I fill heaven and earth?"^(bj)
declares the Lord .

²⁵ "I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies^(bk) in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream!^(bl) I had a dream!' ²⁶ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions^(bm) of their own minds?^(bn) ²⁷ They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget^(bo) my name, just as their ancestors forgot^(bp) my name through Baal worship.^(bq) ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream^(br) recount the dream, but let the one who has my word^(bs) speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the Lord . ²⁹ "Is not my word like fire,"^(bt) declares the Lord , "and like a hammer^(bu) that breaks a rock in pieces?

³⁰ "Therefore," declares the Lord , "I am against^(bv) the prophets^(bw) who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ³¹ Yes," declares the Lord , "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.'^(bx) ³² Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,^(by)" declares the Lord . "They tell them and lead my people astray^(bz) with their reckless lies,^(ca) yet I did not send^(cb) or appoint them. They do not benefit^(cc) these people in the least," declares the Lord .

False Prophecy

³³ "When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message^(cd) from the Lord ?' say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake^(ce) you, declares the Lord .' ³⁴ If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message^(cf) from the Lord ,' I will punish^(cg) them and their household. ³⁵ This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord 's answer?'^(ch) or ‘What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁶ But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord ' again, because each one's word becomes their own message. So you distort^(ci) the words of the living God,^(cj) the Lord Almighty, our God. ³⁷ This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord 's answer to you?' or ‘What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁸ Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord ,' this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord ,' even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord .' ³⁹ Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast^(ck) you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. ⁴⁰ I will bring on you everlasting disgrace^(cl)—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten."

Two Baskets of Figs

¹ After Jehoiachin^[a]^(a) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs^(b) placed in front of the temple of the Lord . ² One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early;^(c) the other basket had very bad^(d) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

³ Then the Lord asked me, "What do you see,^(e) Jeremiah?"

"Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten."

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ "This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent^(f) away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.^[b] ⁶ My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back^(g) to this land. I will build^(h) them up and not tear them down; I will plant⁽ⁱ⁾ them and not uproot them. ⁷ I will give them a heart to know^(j) me, that I am the Lord . They will be my people,^(k) and I will be their God, for they will return^(l) to me with all their heart.^(m)

⁸ "‘But like the bad⁽ⁿ⁾ figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the Lord , ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah^(o) king of Judah, his officials^(p) and the survivors^(q) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.^(r) ⁹ I will make them abhorrent^(s) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,^(t) a curse^[c]^(u) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish^(v) them. ¹⁰ I will send the sword,^(w) famine^(x) and plague^(y) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.^(z)'"

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Hebrews 4

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Chapter 4 A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

¹ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.^(a) ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.^[a]^(b) ³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

"So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.'"^[b]^(c)

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "On the seventh day God rested from all his works."^[c]^(d) ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."^(e)

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,^(f) ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it "Today." This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts."^[d]^(g)

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest,^(h) God would not have spoken⁽ⁱ⁾ later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works,^[e]^(j) just as God did from his.^(k) ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.^(l)

¹² For the word of God^(m) is alive⁽ⁿ⁾ and active.^(o) Sharper than any double-edged sword,^(p) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.^(q) ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.^(r) Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest^(s) who has ascended into heaven,^[f]^(t) Jesus the Son of God,^(u) let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.^(v) ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest^(w) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are^(x)—yet he did not sin.^(y) ¹⁶ Let us then approach^(z) God's throne of grace with confidence,^(aa) so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.